In this Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014 photo, Dr. Henry Heimlich holds his memoirs prior to being interviewed at his home in Cincinnati. Heimlich is known for developing the Heimlich maneuver that has been used to clear obstructions from the windpipes of choking victims around the world for four decades.

The man credited with inventing a maneuver to save choking victims has died at age 96, officials with a Cincinnati retirement home said Saturday.

Dr. Henry Heimlich died just after midnight Friday night at the Deupree House in Hyde Park, Ohio where he lived. Heimlich had been hospitalized since suffering a massive heart attack on Monday.

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The surgeon wrote the book on saving choking victims through his namesake Heimlich maneuver.

His views on how the maneuver should be used and on other innovations he created or proposed put him at odds with some in the health field.

Heimlich still responded to emails and letters about his work and made guest appearances with the Heimlich Heroes program, designed to teach young people how to use the Heimlich maneuver, in the last years of his life.

In a statement released Saturday, Heimlich's family said; "We are saddened by the loss of our father, Dr. Henry J. Heimlich, who passed away earlier today at the age of 96.

Dad was a hero to many people around the world for a simple reason: He helped save untold numbers of lives through the innovation of common-sense procedures and devices. But he was not only a physician and medical inventor, he was also a humanitarian and a loving and devoted son, husband, father, and grandfather."